Changelings
by StormySkys
Summary: Ryou is kidnapped by fox eared people and made a 'guest' in their castle. What is his friend Yugi's connection to the Foxes? Things only get stranger for Ryou when he comes in contact with the 'Wolf' Bakura and starts...changing. YYxY, BxR, MxM ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I shouldn't be posting this, I should be working on a new chapter for 'The Untroubled Land'…but I am posting it. Meh.

**Revised April 2010:** I have renewed interest in this story and plan on keeping it active over the summer, starting in May when I'm done with my exams. Before that, I thought it would be a good idea to go through and edit.

**Pairings:** YamixYugi BakuraxRyou, and MarikxMalik with side SetoxJou and MaixIsis.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-gi-oh.

**Chapter One**

Green eyes snapped open and Ryou found himself in his own well lit bedroom. The familiarity did not bring him any comfort though as he could not shake the eerie feeling the dream had given him. The feeling that something was just…wrong.

_Quit being so stupid it was just a dream. Not even a scary dream, just an odd one. _The teenager told himself, running a hand through his white hair and sitting up. He couldn't shake the feeling though. Not only that; it was getting steadily worse. _Come on Ryou, snap out of it! Just get up, start the day, and forget about it…_

That thought was changed to 'go back to sleep' when the green-eyed youth glanced to his window and saw it was still very dark outside. _Odd…_The wrong feeling intensified when Ryou looked to the candle beside his bed; it wasn't lit and yet his room was as bright as mid-day. Ryou's eyes widened considerably as the light in the room brightened. It continued to brighten until there were no shadows or colour.

Just blinding white.

* * *

"Ryou? Ryou, are you ok?" A young man tentatively knocked at an old wooden door. When there was no answer he pushed on it lightly and stepped inside. Purple eyes looked over the interior of the bedroom noting that the bed was both unmade and unoccupied, a rare occurrence. In the two years that Yugi had known and lived with Ryou he had learnt a lot about his friend, one of the first things being that the other boy was a complete neat freak. Making his bed was the first thing he did every day. Once Yugi had walked in before he was done and the white-haired young man had actually apologized….Of course that had been over a year ago, soon after they'd first met. Ryou had changed a lot since then. He was still obsessively tidy and timid, but he'd grown a bit of a spine.

"Weird…maybe he's downstairs already?" Yugi shrugged and left the small room, though he had a bad feeling that Ryou would not be downstairs.

He was right. The tri-haired boy searched the whole of their small dwelling and found no sign of his friend. Panicking, he started calling the other's name and desperately ran back upstairs to Ryou's room. This time he scanned more closely, looking for some clue as to what had happened rather than for Ryou himself.

Almost immediately he noticed two things. One; Ryou's window was open. It was far too late in the year to sleep with your window open. Two; there was a piece of paper sitting on the windowsill held in place by a small rock.

Forcing himself to be calm, Yugi walked over to the window and picked up the paper. There were only two words written, but they were enough to stop Yugi's breath. So shocked was he that he didn't even notice when a breeze took the paper from his hand, or when it shifted to become a bright green leaf before reaching the ground. The words echoed threw his mind as if they'd been screamed and not simply written.

_Come home._

_

* * *

_

"How long you think we're supposed ta keep'em like this?" A blond with light brown eyes asked, crouched down so he was eye-level with the white-haired captive. The boy's eyes were wide open, but he didn't seem aware of anything around him. He could have been thought dead if it weren't for the slight rise and fall of his chest.

"Indefinitely," A tall brunette deadpanned, leaning back against a grey stone wall. He was being sarcastic, but the other seemed to miss that.

"No way! I mean, how's he supposed ta eat and all that? We can't just let'em starve!" Outraged, the blond jumped to his feet and stood in front of the other.

"Always about food with you, isn't it mutt?" An amused light shone in the blue eyes of the taller kidnapper.

"HEY! I'm being serious here, Kaiba!" The 'mutt' growled out his response. Seto simply smirked and petted Jou twice on the head.

The two of them had been together for nearly two years, greatly shocking everyone who knew them. Even the few who had expected them to get together had expected it to be a momentary passion rather than anything lasting. However, all who were shocked were also happy for the couple. The relationship was a healthy one; it had forced the once immature Jou to grow up (to some extent) and the once cold Seto to stop being distant (to less extent).

Twin doors at the end of the grey corridor Seto and Jou were standing in opened and through them came a lithe figure with piercing red eyes. The man wore black clothing with a navy cape trailing behind him. The cape was clasped at the front with a shining gold pin that matched the subtle crown circling his forehead. Over the crown hung golden bangs, though his hair was three colours; blond, black and red. The spiky tri-coloured hair was not the most unusual thing about him though. No, that honour was reserved for the fox ears and tail sprouting from his head and back; crimson fur tipped with black. The newcomer approached the kidnappers and their captive with an air of authority. He looked purposefully to Ryou, then back up to Jou and Kaiba. "Explain. Who is this human and why is he here?"

"Well, uh, ya see Yami…your highness…" Jou fidgeted, unsure of what to say. Seto was about to step in and save him when their king saved him the trouble.

Sighing, Yami shook his head. It always either hurt or annoyed him when one of the two standing before him addressed him as royalty as they were both people he considered friends. "Never mind, I know you two must have a reason for this. Relax, drop the human disguise, we'll discuss this in my chambers."

Seto nodded while Jou sighed in relief. Two white-blue flames burned upward from Seto's head while a third came from behind him. When they died white fox ears and a tail were in their place. A similar phenomenon occurred with Jou, though the flames were green and the parts replacing them were a soft brown.

In a room off the hall where the three foxes were talking, a tanned youth with blond hair quite a few shades lighter than Jou's listened at the door. He cursed quietly when he heard Yami say they'd continue in his chambers; he wasn't allowed anywhere near there. The king handpicked all the servants who were allowed to clean his personal rooms and Malik, besides being new, wasn't a very good servant. He was short tempered, had some major problems with authority and was far from lucky. Not that luck has much to do with being a servant, but if you're going to go around listening to people's private conversations it can help a lot.

For example; Malik was leaning heavily on a door while his hand rested on the knob. When he shifted slightly, he accidentally turned the knob causing himself to fall face first onto the floor in the hall.

All three foxes turned to look at the boy who had not yet picked himself up, seeming too stunned by his own situation to do so. It wasn't quite sinking in yet that he'd been caught spying on the king and when it did it would not be pleasant.

However, it would appear luck was at least a little on Malik's side that day as Yami's mind was on too many things to worry about if he had been listening or not. "You there, human, take this other human to a cell down- " The ruler paused when he saw Jou shake his head franticly. Seto explained why.

"It would be in your best interest to treat this boy well, at least for the moment. We'll explain more once we have some privacy." The last words were accompanied by a pointed look at Malik. When he finished speaking Seto placed two fingers on Ryou's head. They glowed blue for a moment before fading. "The spell will lose its effect in a few minutes."

"Fine," Yami sighed again, not at all pleased that he had no information about the situation. "Take him to a guest room then."

With that the monarch headed off down the hall. Seto nodded to Jou before following their king, catching up quickly thanks to his longer legs and the fact that Yami was a tad on the short side.

Jou turned to the servant, who was now standing and dusting himself off. "Namu, man, you got to stop being so nosy. Almost any other day you would have been fired on the spot and dumped in the nearest human village without any of your memories."

"I know, I know. I guess I just can't help it," Malik laughed slightly and scratched the back of his head. "I mean, the whole reason I chose to stay here when you found me was because I was curious about Foxes…well, that and not really having anywhere else to go."

The brown eyed fox just shook his head. "You're hopeless…come on, give me a hand here." Jou picked Ryou up by his underarms and waited while 'Namu' grabbed his feet. They carried the white-haired boy down the hall and up a flight of stairs to another hall. They went in the first door and set Ryou down on a fluffy double bed.

"So…why's he here?" Malik asked, before remembering his place. "I mean, if I'm allowed to know that…"

"Normally, no but…" Jou thought for a moment. He knew he couldn't risk the castle staff gossiping about this, it would do nothing good for Yami's reputation, but in order for no one to find out the boy couldn't leave the room. Someone had to watch him and get him food and all that, and Jou – though he was only supposed to be one of the fox king's guards – was a fairly busy individual. "…well, if you can keep your big mouth shut about it, we need someone to watch over the guy. He'd probably feel better 'bout it being another human."

"My lips are sealed! I promise." Malik nodded enthusiastically, speaking in a voice that was noticeably softer than his true one. One thing he had been very lucky in was gaining the trust of Yami's - in his opinion - dim-witted guard.

"Ok then, I'll explain when - " Jou was cut off by a startled squeak from the boy on the bed. Moments earlier the white had faded from Ryou's eyes and his senses had returned to him. "- when he wakes up."

Ryou sat up and looked around the room. It was most defiantly not his bedroom; it was quite a bit nicer than that. "What…where am I?" He then looked to Jou and Malik, noticing Jou's ears and tail. "Wha…What?" He questioned in a quiet, curious voice, though it was also laced with fright. The white haired boy was shaking slightly as he pushed himself back against the headboard.

"Whoa, relax, nothin' ta be afraid of. I'm Jou and dis here's Namu. You're in The Den, that's the Fox Castle, and…umm…welcome?"

**A/N:** There…you'll find out what Malik's up to next chapter and get more info on Ryou. It probably won't be a quick update though as I'll want to get another chapter of my other fic out first.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I fail at updating. Throw things if you wish…I really should never have started this if it was going to take me this long to update. It's ridiculous.

**Revised April 2010**

**Pairings:** YamixYugi BakuraxRyou, and MarikxMalik with side SetoxJou and MaixIsis.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-gi-oh. Be glad for that.

------------

"Fox Castle…?" A white haired head tilted in confusion. The fear had somewhat, though not completely, left his voice. "I don't understand…"

The blonds standing at the foot of the bed looked at each other, then back at Ryou. The slightly taller one with the fox-like features opened his mouth to speak, "Well…it's the castle where Foxes live…not the animal kind of foxes, I mean, Foxes like me…Well, no, there are animal foxes here to, they're considered people in the Den…Umm…Yeah."

Explanations weren't Jounouchi's strong suit.

The tanned blond rolled his eyes slightly and came to sit next to Ryou on the bed. The captive inched away a bit as his hand was grabbed onto gently. "Listen, I was nervous to when I first came here, and I wasn't even kidnapped or anything like you. But don't worry, ok? Despite Jou's lack of eloquence, there is a logical explanation for why you're here…isn't there Jou?"

Ryou's eyes widened at the word kidnapped, though he was comforted slightly by the other's soft tone. He didn't think these people meant him any harm…but it was all just so odd.

Jou could tell Namu was hinting for him to skip the explanation of where they were and what he meant by 'Fox' in favour of why the boy had been brought here. He couldn't tell if it was really for the prisoner's comfort or just his own curiosity though…no, that was stupid. Namu was a good guy, he was just worried about the spooked 'guest'.

"Yeah, there is…" Now, how could he phrase this better? Maybe ease into it. "Ya know your friend Yugi?"

Judging by the way the human's eyes widened, that wasn't the best way to start. "Did you take him to? Is he hurt! Please tell me he's ok…"

"On, no, he's fine!" Jou waved his hands in front of him in denial of the accusation. "We'd never do anything to hurt Yug! That's why we took you instead!" He laughed awkwardly. "Eh, sorry about that."

Green eyes widened again.

"He doesn't mean we're planning to hurt you instead! Just that they didn't want to abduct your friend." Namu sighed.

"Oh…Ok then." Ryou couldn't think of anything else to say. His shock was wearing off now, as was his fear despite the last outburst. Confusion, however, remained dominant in his mind. "So, why did you have to abduct anyone?...If you, uh, don't mind my asking?" He tried to smile politely, but it came off more nervous.

"Well, ok…how long 'ave ya known Yug?" Jounouchi thought desperately for a way to explain without saying anything he wasn't allowed to.

"About two years. Why?"

"Before that he lived here. He's one of us and he doesn't really belong with humans…no offence."

"People here aren't allowed to leave?" Ryou seemed troubled by that thought. Was everyone here the forced subject of some tyrant?

"No, they are…sort of. I mean, people have left before and we don't usually go after them. Just watch for awhile to make sure they don't expose us to humans…Unless they don't go to a human town. If someone tries to live in the forest we bring them back right away, can't have them trespassing on the…um…yeah. Anyways, Yug is a special case." Jounouchi knew he'd said far too much and sort of wished he'd gone with Yami while Seto handled this…then again, no. Seto probably would have fired Namu and explained nothing to the white haired boy.

"Special how?" The suspicion was clear in Ryou's voice.

"I'm not really allowed to say that."

"Oh, I see…I can't believe Yugi is capable of any kind of crime, so that leaves that he's needed here. If he's needed for some reason then why not just explain it to him?" Ryou could figure out that much based only on how well he knew Yugi. He felt like he'd be able to sort out exactly what they wanted with his friend if he only had a few more puzzle pieces. "He's very kind, I'm sure he'd help you..I'm sorry, but this all makes absolutely no sense."

"Yeah, Yug is the best, but it's not so much that we need a favour from him as, umm…He's very important to our king. I really have to leave it at that. Namu here'll explain the whole Fox thing, I need to get back to work." Jounouchi rushed out before he said too much.

Ryou just stared at the empty space where Jou had been, still far from understanding what had happened to him.

------------

"The human was found sharing a home with Yugi." A tall brunet deadpanned from the luxurious red chair he was sitting in, opposite a wide-eyed king. "Don't worry, they sleep in separate rooms and act nothing more than friendly towards each other."

A relieved look passed momentarily over the monarch's face. "Ok, but that doesn't explain why he's here."

"Things aren't going as we expected; Yugi is enjoying his new life with the humans." Seto shrugged. "It was clear after watching him for even a day."

"So your mission wasn't as simple as rescuing him, like we thought it would be. That doesn't explain our new house guest. It's not like you to dance around a point Seto." Yami's eyes narrowed slightly.

"I'm not, I'm merely giving you the information necessary to understand my decision." Seto paused briefly, finding the right words. "Yugi would not have wanted to come with us, and we didn't think you'd appreciate us forcing him." That and Jou wouldn't go for it. "He'll come for his friend though. His friend who will by that time, if we handle this properly, have nothing negative to say about you or your method of ruling."

"I see…" Yami trailed off, leaning back slightly in his own chair. Perhaps his advisor was on to something. If he explained to this friend of Yugi's that this was all for the shorter boy's own good, apologized extensively for involving him, and treated him well then maybe with his help Yugi could be convinced to stay. It was a big maybe, but it was worth a try.

A small clicking noise drew both male's attention to the mahogany double doors of the king's lounge and study. A slightly messy blond head peaked in. "Eh, can I come in?"

"Yes, of course Jou. How is our guest doing?" Yami asked as his livelier friend entered.

"Ok, I guess. Just really confused." Jou leaned against the arm of his mate's chair. "Can't say as I blame'em either."

"And yet you left him alone, locked up, to dwell on in." Kaiba said dryly, looking up at the other. "I've been told my social skills aren't exactly wonderful, but I'm fairly certain that isn't the way to impress a guest."

"Oh, relax, I didn't leave him alone. He's with Namu. I figured they could bond over the whole being human thing." The brown-eared fox dismissed.

"Who's Namu?" The guest was now important to Yami so he didn't want just anyone watching over him.

He didn't question why he had a human on staff; there were a few. Not many, they'd have to get totally lost in a forest - when the Den was in that specific forest - and make the choice to stay rather than be guided back to their home.

"Oh, he's the servant who tripped earlier, remember? He's only been here a few months, but I like him." Jou grinned; Namu was becoming a good friend of his.

"I don't trust him." Seto said bitterly.

"Aww, are you jealous?" The blond teased, turning and leaning down to hug the other around his shoulders.

"No." An eye twitch. Seto wasn't one for public affection, even if that public only extended to include one other person. "I think he was spying on us earlier."

"So he's a little nosy? It's harmless."

Yami was inclined to agree, Seto wasn't known for being an excellent judge of character. He would have to meet this human himself though, just to make sure…Later. If he were going to make time in his busy schedule to meet with anyone right now it should be his white haired guest. True, he controlled when the Den shifted location, but it wouldn't be safe to keep it stationary for too long. Yugi knew that as well as he did, so the other would be coming soon.

"How long can we afford to stay in this area? I don't think we have to move quite as quickly as last time." The ruler's time was valuable and he didn't want to spend any more of it discussing some servant he'd barely met.

"No, the Cats don't seem to be keeping as close track of our movements as we'd previously thought. Still, we can't afford the chance that that's exactly what they want us to think." Seto knew Yami would grab at any excuse to wait for Yugi, so he hoped he hurried up.

"I know." Though, he also knew he wasn't going to leave this spot without the shorter young man. "By the way, has the messenger I sent to them still not returned?"

"Did ya really expect'er to?" Jou spoke up, having always thought of a visit to the Cats and their queen a suicide mission.

"They aren't savages, and I believe Queen Mai very capable logical negotiation…They just distrust us, as we do them." Yami half-forced out the mantra he'd been repeating mentally for a good year or so. He'd been trying to treat the other species with understanding, but they made it very hard sometimes.

"Except that we 'ave good reason." Jou, though he'd been promoted to king's personal guard some time ago, was still a soldier at heart and saw the felines as the enemy…even though they'd never technically been at war. He couldn't remember a time when they hadn't been on the brink of it though.

"They might to." Yami shrugged, though it was easy to tell he barely believed what he said.

Seto broke in at this point, answering his ruler's original question. "No, she hasn't returned. I'm surprisingly inclined to agree with the mutt on this. She's probably been taken prisoner, if not worse." He didn't really seem to care. Anzu, the messenger, wasn't his favourite person in the world. Still, she was a fairly smart girl and good with people (not him, but other people). If she couldn't pull off a simple 'we mean you no harm' then there was little chance of the Cat's believing a less dynamic messenger. All in all it wasn't good news.

-----------

"So…they're faeries?" The more people tried to explain things to him, the more confused Ryou got. And Ryou was not an easily confused person.

"No…well, yes, sort of. What I mean is that it's faerie magic that makes them what they are. You won't find any true faeries living in the Den though…I'm not sure why, sorry." Namu shrugged apologetically. "Now, what was the word again…Oh, right, Changelings! That's what they call themselves!"

"I thought they called themselves Foxes?"

"Yeah, they're Foxes, but there are Cats and any other animal you could think of to. The faeries changed all sorts of animals human-like…or humans animal-like? I don't know, anyways Cats and Foxes are the major ones, the only ones that live together in cities. Apparently they don't like each other much. I've yet to figure out why, but I swear I will one day!" He pumped a fist in the air. "And why the faeries aren't around anymore and…everything else!"

It was a lot to take in, and very hard to believe even if he had seen one of the 'Foxes' not too long ago. Ryou'd decided half way into Namu's spiel that he wasn't going to try to understand any of what was happening, just accept it and wait for Yugi. If this really had something to do with his friend then maybe the other could help it all make sense.

"-Oh, and I really want to know how and why it is that this place keeps moving. I don't get it at all. No one in the castle or the town around it care at all though, they barely ever even leave. It's weird. Everything here is weird. I like it though, like this one time-"

Apparently Namu's spiel never stopped. Oh well, it was probably best he just pretend to listen. The darker skinned boy seemed very nice, Ryou wouldn't want to hurt his feelings, but his speech was somewhat hard to follow.

"…You're not even listening anymore are you?" Ryou immediately looked guilty. "Oh, hey, it's ok. I know I can get a little carried away…Would you like a few moments by yourself to think? Why don't I leave for a bit and bring you some lunch back?"

"That would be very nice, thank you." The white haired boy smiled politely.

"Sure thing! Be back in a few!" Namu all but bounced out of the room, allowing himself to smirk only after closing the door and making sure he was alone in the hall. His good mood was far from fake, so he continued half-skipping all the way to the servant's quarters and into the room he shared with two others (who were conveniently not present). Once inside his room, he shut the door and snickered to himself, spinning in a sort of victory dance. As he spun a couple previously hidden features revealed themselves.

First, two light purple furred ears appeared on either side of his head. Though still quite large compared to human ears, they were significantly smaller than fox ears and had less sharp a point. Each was pierced twice and had two golden hoop earrings running through. Malik also gained a long, short-furred tail of the same colour with a golden tail ring placed a couple inches from the tip.

Quite pleased with the events of the day, he hopped onto his bed and dug excitedly under his pillow pulling out a small round mirror. He tapped it three times, with a nail that seemed longer and sharper than a few moments before. It rippled on the third tap as if made of water. The darkly tanned face of a woman with intelligent blue eyes, long black hair and navy blue cat ears appeared.

"Sister, get the queen for this report. It's a good one."

--------------

**A/N:** Yugi, Bakura and Marik will all get very important later, though I'm not sure any of them will be in the next chapter. Bakura won't be for sure, sorry. There are some things I want to get out of the way before any get-together stuff starts happening. My next update will be quicker than this one, though that's not really saying much considering…yeah. Sorry again. Please review.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Well, both Yugi and Marik made it into this chapter. Briefly. Whoo. Mai and Isis are in it quite a bit to.

**Revised April 2010**

**Pairings:** YamixYugi BakuraxRyou, and MarikxMalik with side SetoxJou and MaixIsis.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-gi-oh. Be glad for that.

--

A grey pyramid that would have looked at home in the classic Mayan period rose above the treetops. It was surrounded by a square mote, roughly 5 meters wide, dug into the limestone pavement. The small body of water was no serious defence to her majesty or her court, but it did stop anyone coming to them with minor complaints. A Cat did not willingly go swimming unless it was for something important, and it was a bit too far for most to jump. Scattered around the pyramid and its mote there was a series of dwellings and shops that made up Bubastis, the city of the Cats.

At the pyramid's top the monarch herself could be found lounging across a royal blue plush blanket surrounded by various jewel-toned cushions, an extravagant picnic placed off to one side of the platform. Queen Mai was a shapely woman dressed finely in deep purple silks, the colour of her eyes. Her blond hair was long and luxurious looking, as was the black fur of her ears and tail.

"So the scavengers have a human guest? Interesting, not quite interesting enough to be worth bothering **me** with, but interesting." By 'scavengers' Mai of course meant the Foxes. She was speaking to a mirror held by a darker skinned woman sitting a few feet away, her legs curled under her. Isis, one of her best advisors, who she had as recently as a few days earlier developed far more than a business relationship with. The mirror her blue-eyed lover held was one of two enchanted to allow communication over great distances. Its twin was kept by Isis's little brother, who was working as a spy over at the Fox castle.

"So sorry to disturb your laziness' beauty sleep," A teasing voice emitted from the mirror before it let annoyance creep in. "Let me finish before you dismiss it!"

"Malik! Be more respectful when speaking to our queen." Isis scolded, sending a look of disapproval downwards to the looking glass. "You know she works as hard as anyone to keep our city safe."

"Yes yes, that's far from the point sister," Lavender eyes rolled. He actually probably would act more respectful towards Mai were he in her presence and could be punished with cleanup duty or some other menial task he felt was beneath him. As it was she couldn't currently do anything to him, so why not let himself be a little snappish? Deception was fun and all, but it was pretty much all he did all day. However, he decided to postpone further ridicule of her majesty anyways – he really was excited about the report. "Anyways, they snatched the guy up out of his home, but now they're treating him like an honoured guest. The way Jou talks I wouldn't be surprised if he gets an audience with the king!"

Mai sat up fully at this, moving closer to the mirror. Having Malik on the inside these past couple of months had helped with a lot of things. They now knew whenever the Den moved and could figure out where to, they had more detailed profiles of the king's advisors and friends and they just had a generally better understanding of how the Foxes operated. Yami himself, however, remained quite the mystery. They only knew what he chose to reveal to them through various messages over the years (which the cats never responded to) and little scraps of information Malik tricked out of the guard Jounouchi. The Fox King was a careful man and beyond that his true nature remained a mystery. "I trust you're well on your way to friendship with this human?"

"As much as I possibly could be with someone I've only known about an hour. But by the end of the day he'll see 'Namu' the same way the idiot guard does – friendly, spastic and harmlessly curious." The male cat clearly prided himself on his acting ability.

"Heh, I don't imagine that second one's much of an acting challenge." Mai chuckled, though she stopped when she noticed the displeased look Isis was giving her.

"So funny. Believe me, 'Namu' makes me look sedated." He hoped, at least, that he wasn't really as bad as he'd been pretending. "Anyways, as a kidnapped outsider I doubt this one'll be as tight lipped as the Foxes I've been working on."

"Let's hope not," Mai smirked.

"Any hints as to why the human was taken in?" Isis knew her mate and brother could easily get caught up in plans to learn about the enemy king - he had become a kind of Holy Grail for the two. With good reason; further knowledge of the king could tell them exactly how defensive they needed to be. For the longest time they'd thought up the worst case scenario for what the Foxes' goals could be and acted as if it were fact, just to be safe. Maybe they'd find through learning about Yami that they were being paranoid and that friendship between the two largest congregations of changelings was very possible. Or, maybe they'd find that Yami was wickedly ambitious and the Foxes were far closer to attacking than they could have guessed. In any case, while the canine monarch was important he was not the only important topic and Isis felt the need to steer the conversation away from him before the other two got carried away.

"Something to do with some Yugi Fox living outside the Den…" Malik went on to re-tell the conversation between Jou and the white haired boy.

--

Ryou had no clue what he should be thinking. His village was fairly small and rural surrounded on all sides by farmland, though they did have a main street complete a few shops and a tavern. Most people still held the same superstitions their great grandparents had believed in to be true, despite what visiting scholars and other wealthy city dwellers insisted. Ryou's mother had told him stories of faeries and magic all through his childhood…but his father had been one of those academics from the city. He'd made sure to teach his son better than most of the village's residents, his wife included. Though Ryou always enjoyed his mother's stories, he hadn't believed them since he was four. He'd always sort of wished he was wrong. Be careful what you wish for, he supposed.

Though, his mother's stories had never had people with animal features in them, so he couldn't rely on them to help him make sense of his current situation.

What was going on? It didn't seem his kidnappers meant him any harm, and he believed Jou when he said they didn't want to hurt Yugi. Those thoughts brought him comfort, but he still felt uneasy.

Sighing, he got up from where he sat on the cream-coloured bedspread and made his way over to an arch-shaped window with a small wooden door over it to keep out the wind. Opening the cover, he was shocked to find himself at least six levels from the ground, quite a height considering there were no buildings in his home town higher than two levels. Outside the window stretched a few blocks of squished in wooden dwellings and shops, mostly three stories. The buildings were mostly very skinny and often close enough to their neighbour that they could easily be attached. There was a stone wall beyond the buildings that Ryou assumed surrounded the town and castle. He was slightly shocked to see the people moving about the town all had pointed ears and bushy tails, though he supposed he shouldn't be considering he'd been told this was the Fox Castle.

"Eh, 'scuse me?" Ryou jumped slightly, turning to see Jou standing in the doorway. "Sorry to startle ya!" The blond fox greeted good naturedly, sounding equally apologetic and amused.

"Oh, it's fine." The human smiled weakly, secretly hoping he wouldn't have to talk with Jou for too long. Even if the other didn't mean him any harm, it was still awkward to have a conversation with the magical creature who'd abducted you. Ryou'd do it, Jou seemed nice enough and he wouldn't want to be rude…but he couldn't help wishing the other would leave quickly.

"Hey, where'd Namu get to?" Jou looked around in surprise when he noticed his human friend wasn't in the room.

"He's gone to get me something to eat." Ryou wondered how far away the kitchen was; the other had been gone a while now. Hopefully he wasn't going to too much trouble for the meal, Ryou wasn't really that hungry anyways and he wouldn't want to be a bother. "All done your work?"

"Nope. I just came to tell ya the king wants ta see ya." Jou smiled. "It's a pretty big deal; Yami doesn't meet with just anyone."

"Oh…" Ryou's light skin paled further. "Why?"

"He's just being careful. It's not like average Joe Fox has no way of contacting his advisors, he just can't-" Jou started the much rehearsed explanation. There had actually been complaints that Yami was too secretive a ruler.

"I actually meant why does he want to see me?" Ryou corrected timidly. "Sorry to interrupt."

"Huh? Oh, right. Well he's gonna explain why you're here better than I can." Jou had been told to leave it at that, but felt the human deserved a bit more information. "Actually, he's also hoping you'll help him convince Yug ta stay."

"He wants me to help trick Yugi?" Ryou seemed shocked. Was this why they were being civil to him? Would that change if he didn't help?

"No! No way! Not 'trick'," A hasty objection. Jou supposed this is why Seto had told him not to divulge that information. "Listen, Yami'll explain it way better. I'll go see where Namu is with that food and after ya eat I'll take ya up to the king's study."

Ryou sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day as the fox guard left him alone once more.

--

Yugi packed only a small bag for his trip. It would not be a long one.

As a fox he'd be able to see through the illusions cloaking The Den so finding it would be easy. Once he was there he could be fairly certain Yami and the others would hand Ryou over without much of an argument. The king would no doubt beg him to stay, as would Jou and his other friends were they present, but that could take only so long and then he'd be gone and could begin trying to explain what had happened to his unfortunate roommate.

Yami was such a jerk! There was a reason Yugi didn't tell anyone before he left; he couldn't stand to see the sad faces of the people he cared about, didn't want to hear them asking him 'why?'. But now he was most likely going to have to…was this just spite? Surely Yami must know kidnapping his friend would only increase Yugi's disapproval of the way the king operated and there was no chance of this making him want to stay. Was he just doing this so Yugi would have to give a painful goodbye to his friends? The shorter male wouldn't put it past him.

And poor Ryou. The human had been nothing but kind to him over the past two years. When Yugi had arrived, clearly distressed, in the farming village Ryou had taken him in with no questions asked that weren't directly related to making sure he was comfortable and happy. And Yugi had been happy. It had taken awhile, he'd missed his old life dearly, but with Ryou's help Yugi had learnt to love his new life to. And now the other was suffering for it.

Yugi knew the Foxes would not be cruel to their hostage, but the situation would still be very stressful….Still, Yugi didn't think he was quite ready to rush to his friend's rescue. He was packed, yes, and standing at the front door, but he just couldn't walk out it. This was going to be so horrible.

Yugi'd always tried his best to be a good person. He'd always been there whenever anyone had needed him, always been eager to help. He was the kind of guy who would smile at and greet someone he didn't know just to make their morning a little brighter. He hated knowing he'd hurt his friends, both the Foxes he'd been close to and Ryou, and he didn't want to face them. He couldn't, at least not until he knew exactly how he was going to handle it. Why couldn't he just snap his fingers and make Yami a good ruler? Then he could go home, be with all the people he missed, snap his fingers again to make Ryou want to stay to, and live happily ever after.

He'd leave the next morning, once he knew what to say to the people he'd abandoned.

--

"So, you're saying you think we should intercept this 'Yugi' on his way to The Den and use him as a bargaining piece?" Mai restated Malik's plan, mulling it over. In some ways it was a good idea, depending on how important Yugi was to the Fox King. Then again, did they know enough about Yami to risk it? What if it only provoked the Foxes into attacking?

"Why not? He's bound to have better information than that messenger you have locked up and it might just give us that extra edge against them." Bronze shoulders shrugged in the mirror, wrinkling lavender fabric.

"Brother, need I remind you that it is your duty to collect information and mine to advise on what to do with it?" Isis didn't always have a problem with Malik putting in his two cents. Indeed, she would have gone insane growing up if she'd let his being opinionated get to her. However, she couldn't help being bothered when he came up with ideas like this. Surly taking this Yugi person prisoner wouldn't help convince the Foxes they meant no harm. It was bad enough that they weren't letting that messenger vixen return to her home. Isis couldn't help feeling they'd turned down an olive branch.

"Oh, but Isis! You should know better than anyone there's no stopping Malik sharing his adorable little plots." A new, deep, voice spoke and the two female felines turned their heads to see a tom cat smirking at the top of the pyramid's steps. He looked much like Malik, though taller and with a larger build. His hair too was a great deal larger, and wildly spiked in all directions. The dark purple fur of his tail - and ears, though they were hidden from sight by his hair - was not short like Malik's or Isis's but long like that of Mai (who had previously been pouting – like she needed either Ishtar sibling to tell her what to do!).

Malik, though the mirror had not been turned and he could not see the new arrival, recognized the voice as that of the Cat the queen had charged with managing the physical protection of the city. Marik. Malik honestly didn't see the big deal about that though. It wasn't like they'd ever been attacked. All Marik had to do was assign what squad had patrol duty when. More importantly, the voice belonged to the Cat he'd missed the least while he'd been off spying and it wasn't saying anything to change that fact. Malik would have taken the opportunity to rant, but Marik continued on to a different subject before he got a chance.

"I've been listening in, terribly sorry about that." He did not sound sorry. "And I think there's another option your majesty might want to consider." Obligatory bow. "If I may?"

--

**A/N**: Fun fact – Bubastis was the city where Bast (Egyptian cat goddess) was worshipped the most. Please review!...Oh, and if you have any thoughts about how Yugi is turning out please share them. I'm sort of nervous about writing him so tell me if he seems OOC…well, tell me if anyone seems OOC, I'm just especially worried about Yugi.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** So...There's not really a good explanation for letting a fic go years without updating, or for trying to revive it after such a period. Suffice to say that this fic is now more than half planned out, pretty much scene by scene, and will be completed. I don't blame you if you're thinking something to the effect of 'I'll believe it when I see it'.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-gi-oh. Be glad for that.

**Chapter 4**

Sometime after Jounouchi left him alone, Ryou made a decision. It wasn't all at once so he wasn't sure exactly when he'd decided on it, only that he had.

He'd been trying his best not to puzzle over the reasons for his being in the foxes' castle. Hopefully, it would all become clear with Yugi's arrival. Until then all he could do was speculate, so it was best not to think of it at all or he'd only get himself worked up. The best thing he could do was to remain calm.

But then he thought 'why do I need to wait for Yugi?'. He definitely trusted his friend to give him an honest account of why he was here, but it could be a while before he arrived. And, before that, the fox king was going to be asking him for his support. He would give Ryou some explanation for why he was being involved in this matter, and then he would ask for Ryou's support when Yugi came. That much the white haired boy felt he could say without calling it 'speculation', it had been made fairly clear.

Ryou couldn't afford to wait for Yugi, he was talking to Yami today. He was going to have to judge this situation for himself, or he was going to end up some pawn in the foxes' game. Reserving judgment until Yugi showed up would just mean that they knew exactly what to expect from him and he'd have nothing to say to Yugi when he got there besides 'they haven't treated me badly'.

Yami had ordered Ryou kidnapped, he didn't get a 'they haven't treated me badly' unless he had a very good explanation.

Ryou decided he wasn't leaving his meeting with the monarch until he had that explanation.

* * *

Malik did not like the way the conversation was going. The queen seemed like she couldn't decide between his idea of intercepting this 'Yugi' and using him as leverage and Marik's idea of doing stupid things that wouldn't help. The spy thought that his first-hand undercover experience should give him more credibility than some overrated bouncer. The other tom cat's only job was to defend them from invasion, and they'd never been invaded. He actually had a feeling that that was why Marik had come up with the 'more diplomatic' alternative that he had – it allowed him to get more involved. After all, Marik didn't care about diplomacy – Malik knew that for a fact – so that only left having personal reasons to push a particular plan. He probably didn't even expect it to work and just wanted to get his hands dirty when it fell through.

"If I may interject, my lady?" Malik couldn't have been more pleased to hear his elder sister's voice. She'd be the tie breaker – whatever she agreed with would probably be what Mai went with. And there was no way she'd choose Marik over her dear sweet baby brother.

"Go ahead Isis...and quit the 'my lady' thing. Unless we're in the bedroom." Malik wondered what that last part was supposed to mean. He definitely knew what it sounded like, but that couldn't be right...Well, no matter! His big sister was coming to the rescue and saving them all from Marik's plan that he only made up to be an asshole!

"I think Marik's idea is a good one." Traitor!

"Sister, you can't! Not even he thinks it's a good idea!"

Marik looked far too amused for Malik's liking. "Why would I say it if I didn't think it was a good idea?"

"Because you're you! You just want in on the action."

"I think you're confusing me with yourself, dear Malik. Isn't that why you are where you are right now?"

Just because he was right didn't mean Malik was wrong. And now Marik was laughing...jerk.

"Brother, I know you are closer to the situation than the rest of us, and I don't doubt your claim about Marik's motivations. Mai and I know him to, remember? However, if we go with your plan and it ends badly I don't think I could live with myself knowing there was another option and we didn't even try it."

Mai seemed to agree with this. "That's exactly what I was concerned about, love. You put my thoughts into words better than I do sometimes."

Malik, besides feeling generally not-good about the conversation, was now starting to get a bit worried about the way his queen was looking at his sister. And what was this 'love' business about? Mai called people 'hun' sometimes; maybe she was just expanding to newer and even more unnecessary endearments?

"How about we try my plan first – classic negotiation. We try to barter for information like where they are and what sorts of things they could attack us with and gage whether they want to attack us at all. If I'm not getting anywhere by the time this 'Yugi' leaves again – or by the time her majesty gets impatient – we move on to Malik's plan and there can be no saying we didn't try the nice way." Marik's smirk as he spoke confirmed what Malik thought – Marik wanted his own plan to fail.

"...Couldn't you at least send someone else?" Malik already knew the answer would be no. Most cats were afraid of the foxes, no one else would volunteer. That's probably how Malik got his own job.

"Now now Malik, you look like someone dumped water on you. Cheer up, your sister and I have some good news we've been meaning to share!" Mai's grin was quite possibly more disturbing than Marik's.

* * *

"Hey, has Namu come through here lately?"

"Not unless he learnt how to be stealthy over night –there's some food missing, but I haven't seen that boy."

Jou wasn't really that surprised when the cook shook his head. He hadn't passed the human servant in the halls on the way, and he obviously wasn't still in the kitchen. He must have gotten side tracked somewhere along the way to get Ryou's lunch. Shaking his head at the degree to which Namu's brain was scattered, Jou grabbed some bread and a piece of fruit before saying goodbye to the kitchen staff and heading off in the general direction of the servant's quarters. He knew he should probably just take the food to Ryou so he'd be ready to meet with Yami sooner, but he was curious about what had side-tracked the other blond.

Jou nodded to a few of the castle staff who he was familiar with as he entered the area where the servants lived. Kind hearted and outgoing, he didn't usually have trouble getting along with people. Well, ok, he could be sort of hot-headed and brash. He tended to overreact and, when he got mad, he wasn't the kind of person who could internalize it. Still, Jounouchi was the type who made friends easily. It had never been a problem for him to hold a position of authority and still be liked by those he had some power over.

Rounding the corner on to the hall where Namu's room was located, the guard heard a smashing noise. It sounded like something had been knocked over, or maybe someone had dropped something? Jou knocked on the door to the room the sound had come from and there was no answer. He was about to open it, to make sure no one was injured inside, when he heard a scream from a bit further down the hallway.

"GET OFF MY SISTER!"

It sounded like his human friend's voice, but Namu didn't have any sister he knew about and definitely didn't have one living in The Den. Maybe it was someone else? Well, whoever it was, something was obviously going on and as a member of the king's personal guard it was part of Jounouchi's job to keep the peace inside the castle. He took off running down the remaining length of the hall to the room the scream had come from, his boots smacking loudly against the stone floor.

Flinging the door open, Jou was surprised to find...nothing out of the ordinary. Just an irritated looking Namu glaring down at a mirror.

"What's with all the yelling?" The guard slumped against the doorframe, looking confused.

"Bad hair day." Namu stated in an annoyed manner, adjusting a pale blond strand and continuing to stare down at the mirror. "This one piece is being a real pain."

"...So you told it ta get off your sister?" Jou blinked.

"...It's an expression." Namu was acting sort of weird, even for him. Since when did he have bad hair days?

"That's not any expression I've ever heard." Jou raised an eyebrow in a manner he usually reserved for when he was doing his Seto impression.

"It's a _human_ expression."

"Oh, ok. You humans sure are so strange sometimes." Jou smiled, amused by the other's antics, and held up the food he'd grabbed for Ryou. "Forget something?"

"...Ah! Oh, shit, I guess I did. Sorry Jou! I'll run that up to him right away!" Namu sprung up, shoved his mirror under a pillow, and was standing in front of Jou, bouncing from foot to foot, in a flash.

"Don't worry about it, Namu. I'll go up with you. I've got ta take 'em to see Yami after he eats." The fox laughed a bit to himself and continued in a joking manner. "He's probably going to have to rush now, all because of _someone's_ hair emergency."

"Oh, but it _was_ an emergency! Hair this good takes time, you know?" Namu met Jou's amusement with a smirk of his own as they began to walk down the hall. "...Oh, wait, of course you don't. How silly of me."

The two continued to banter playfully all the way back to the guest room Ryou was being kept in. When they got there the green eyed young man was sitting on the edge of his bed, hands folded neatly in his lap. He smiled politely to the two blonds and greeted them with a pleasant 'hello'. The nerves that had taken hold of him earlier in the day seemed to have vacated, their guest was completely calm. He also seemed to have been waiting for them. Not that he really had anything else to do, but the air he had about him in that moment...He wasn't just a prisoner who knew he was going to be taken somewhere, he was an individual agent awaiting a meeting where he would represent his own interests. Jou wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

"Sorry it took so long, Ryou, I sort of had to, umm..." Namu scratched the back of his head, embarrassment clear on his face. His light purple eyes flicked over to Jou as if to say 'help me?'.

"Namu here was taking a break to fix his hair." Jounouchi smirked and ruffled the darker skinned boy's golden tresses. Namu ducked away from the offending hand quickly and immediately began patting down his hair, trying to fix the damage, while sending Jou a look he translated as a sarcastic 'thanks a lot'. Jou replied with a 'no problem, buddy' grin.

"You two seem like really close friends." Ryou observed with a small chuckle.

"As if! I'm only using him for his connections." Namu, once again satisfied with the placement of his hair, remarked in a teasing voice and stuck his tongue out at the fox.

"I wouldn't be surprised, nosy pest that you are." Jou rolled his eyes, though his grin remained in place. He walked over to Ryou and handed him the bread and fruit he'd brought from the kitchen, only to have the other set it aside.

"I'm not really that hungry. I'd like to have that meeting with King Yami now, if it's not too much trouble."

"Nah, no trouble. He said to bring you when you were ready." Jou couldn't help wondering why Ryou was so eager to see Yami. He'd seemed uneasy about it when he'd left him only a bit earlier.

"Right then." Ryou stood and waited to be led out of the room. "Let's go."

* * *

Malik sighed and flopped down on Ryou's bed after the fox and human had left him. That had been way too close for comfort. If Jou hadn't come running down the hall – his boots making a lot of noise – the feline spy probably would have been caught in the act. He'd had just enough warning that someone was coming to hide his cat-like features and remove the images from his mirror.

He did not lay there a minute before he was up again. He stretched in a way that would be just as revealing of his true identity as his ears and tail before heading back down to his own room. Mai had a letter she needed him to write.

Only a few minutes later, Ryou found himself sitting on a small balcony off the king's personal study in a purple plush chair, the wooden arms and legs of which were a red-toned wood. In front of him was a similarly toned wooden table with a shiny varnish and a tray with a teapot, two cups, cream and sugar resting in on it. On the other side of that table was a man who looked something like Yugi sitting in a chair identical to his own. Everything from the way he crossed his legs to the way he sipped his tea was regal.

"So, I assume you're wondering why you're here." The red-eyed fox king stated with an exasperated sigh, like he thought it was beneath him to converse with the human. Ryou was tempted to judge him a terrible snob, before he continued in a kinder voice. "Please know that I don't intend for any harm to come to yourself or Yugi. I wasn't planning on involving you at all, it was an improvisation an advisor of mine thought up in the moment."

"I feel confident at this point that you don't want to hurt me or Yugi, don't worry about that." Ryou smiled and took a drink of his beverage. He really didn't think the king's goal was to hurt anyone, but that didn't mean it wouldn't happen. "But other than that I'm afraid I'm at a loss to understand this situation."

"I suppose I should start from the beginning." Yami set his teacup in its saucer before continuing. "As I'm sure you've gathered by now, Yugi is a 'fox' and was once a resident of this castle. His grandfather was an advisor to my father, we grew up as friends. When I became king, he became one of my advisors. He was liked and respected by everyone in my court – by everyone who knew him, even – and had many close friends."

"Yugi is a very sweet person." Ryou reflected fondly on his friend.

"He is." Yami nodded his agreement. "That's why it was such a shock when he left us. He didn't even say goodbye, just left a note saying that he'd be living in a human village we were close to at the time and that we shouldn't worry about him."

Ryou didn't like the implication that Yami was making. He didn't sound worried so much as angry that he'd been made to worry, like he thought Yugi selfish for leaving. If things were as simple as Yami described them Ryou may have been inclined to agree, but he knew Yugi and he knew that his roommate was not a selfish person. There had to be more to it.

"I'm sure he had a good reason." Ryou defended.

"I'm not." The king's cold tone made it clear that the subject was not to be debated. His voice lost its icy edge when he continued. "But that isn't the issue. The issue lies not in the past, but in Yugi's present happiness."

"I'm not sure I understand..." As far as the white haired man knew Yugi wasn't unhappy.

"Do you really think someone can leave behind their entire life, everyone they've ever known and cared for, and not feel displaced and homesick?" Yami sighed and shook his head. "Yugi is the type to keep smiling so that the people around him feel better, so it might not be obvious, but I don't believe he can be completely happy living among humans. If you truly consider him a friend then I hope when he arrives you won't make things hard on him."

As the fox king spoke, Ryou had become more and more sympathetic to his situation. He was worried about someone he cared about, that was no crime. However, in his last sentence any progress Yami had been making with him was erased. He had the nerve to think Ryou might make the situation difficult for Yugi, when he was the one forcing Yugi into it?

"You're the one making him relive what I imagine must have been a very painful experience. Please don't tell me not to 'make things hard on him'." A whisper can be more scathing than a scream sometimes.

"I already told you, this isn't how I'd intended things." Was Yami trying to sound pacifying? To Ryou it just sounded patronizing. "Seto and Jou were supposed to find him lonely and lost, he was supposed to w-"

"Would you have really preferred that? You wanted him to be unhappy just so you could save him?"

"I don't like your tone."

"And what are you hoping will happen now? That you can guilt him in to staying by making him face the people he left behind?"

Ryou wasn't usually one for arguments, mostly because most arguments weren't about anything important. He didn't like conflict and he was frightened more easily than angered, but...He knew how to pick his battles. The emotional manipulation of a friend wasn't something he could back away from.

"I was trying to be kind in explaining the way of things to you, but I can see that it's pointless." Yami stood and went inside, walking across his study and opening the door to the hallway where Jou was waiting. "This conversation is over, take him to his room."

Ryou nodded to the king and followed Jou without another word. '_I don't need any more explanations; it's fairly clear at this point why Yugi left.'_

'_It was to get away from you.'_

_

* * *

_

Yami watched the human leave with more than a small amount of distain. It was clear that he wouldn't be any help. How could he claim to care about Yugi? This was all obviously for his own good. Yami could only hope the white haired annoyance didn't have too horrible an effect on things.

For Yugi's sake.

The king's brooding was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Speak."

"It's Kaiba."

"Come in."

Seto entered with an expression that made it clear they had business to discuss. When he looked at Yami, however, a degree of discomfort made itself visible as well. "...You're upset."

"I am."

"You don't want to...talk about it, do you?"

"Not particularly."

"Good."

Seto proceeded to hold out an envelope. There was a wax seal on it with a cat's eye design – the symbol of Bubastis.

"It was found near the front entrance. I thought you'd want to be the first to read it." Seto explained as he handed his king the letter.

As the seal implied, the letter was from the cat queen. In it, Mai expressed her regrets at having taken so long to reply after Yami had sent his messenger, Anzu. She confessed that their first reaction had been to take the girl prisoner, but that she'd had time to think since then and realized that had been rather paranoid of her. Paranoia was a problem for both of them. Mai wished to address both of their concerns and felt that exchanging ambassadors might be a good way to open up a dialogue. To reply Yami need only write his answer on the back of the letter, reseal the envelope, and leave it where it had been found. It was a very intricate enchantment that had allowed the delivery of the letter to a location Mai did not know and Yami was advised not to try guarding or keeping track of the parchment when he was replying – its magic was fragile and sensitive.

While it was true that transportation spells tended to be finicky and could conceivably react to someone's attitudes about them, both Yami and Seto were suspicious about that last part. Neither of them had heard of a way to enchant something to deliver itself when you didn't know the exact place it was to be delivered to. Would Anzu have given up their location? No, she knew better than that. That combined with the fact that any transport spell at all was complicated and nearly impossible without another caster working to receive the item...It would have made more sense to take the extra time and send Anzu back with the message. Unless the message hadn't really been magically delivered at all and someone had dropped it off. Both men decided that that didn't make any more sense than the spell – they were confident the cats didn't know their location. Even if they sent out scouts to search a number of places that they thought it might be one did not find The Den unless they already knew where it was or the king had given his consent, as was the case with lost human travelers.

Since both explanations were equally unlikely, they decided to go along with Queen Mai's instructions. Yami did insist on heightening security for the next few days, however.

The king and his advisor discussed the letter at some length and, though Yami's distrust of the cat's had grown at learning how Anzu had originally been treated by them, they both agreed that establishing a dialogue with the felines was a step in the right direction. That had been what they were trying when they'd first sent a messenger, after all. Yami penned a reply that stated his agreement and desire that an ambassador be sent to The Den in three day's time. He gave a place where their new guest would meet with people who would guide him to the fox castle.

* * *

**A/N:** Has my writing changed at all in the last couple years?

Also, Jou's accent – it's awkward to write and I'm worried that it's distracting to read. In this chapter I used it where it sounded like if flowed well to me, and dropped it where it didn't. Should I even bother with it?

Next chapter should be up this time next week, at the latest.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** A day late is better than two years late, eh?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-gi-oh. Be glad for that.

**Chapter 5**

The next two days passed very quickly for some occupants of the fox castle. Most people were working to prepare for the banquet which was to take place on the third day, in honour of the ambassador being sent from Bubastis. Security had been significantly heightened as well, though only a select few knew exactly why. For this reason, many were as nervous as they were busy. They had been told the cat who was to arrive shortly would come alone and in peace, but given the sudden and mostly unexplained increase in castle defences the atmosphere inside The Den was very tense.

For Ryou things were no less tense than for the castle staff, but for him the days crawled rather than flew by. Every second was spent in anticipation of the time when Yugi would arrive, as he was sure the other would. If his friend came and demanded that Ryou and himself be allowed to return to their home, would the fox king even allow it? The human's meeting with him the other day had left him unsure about that. Ryou felt confident that Yami cared for Yugi, but the actions he'd taken in the name of that caring weren't justified by their motivation. What if he decided to trap Yugi here 'for his own good'?

"Hey, Ryou, you doing ok?" The human turned away from the window he'd been gazing out to regard the blond fox in the doorway. Seeing Jou made the situation Ryou had been imagining seem less likely than it had only seconds before. Over the last couple days the guard had been very busy, but had still found time to check up on the white haired boy every once in a while. Ryou thought he felt guilty for his part in the kidnapping. Jounouchi was a kind person and – he had learnt – one of Yugi's best friends. He was also one of Yami's best friends. If someone like Jou trusted and participated in the king's plan, then perhaps Ryou was judging him too harshly? There was probably a bigger picture here than he realized, but the captive felt sure that – whatever situation revealed itself – he still would not fully approve of the monarch's actions.

"I'm fine, Jou. Just over-thinking some things." Ryou smiled and took a seat on his bed, gesturing for Jou to pull up a spare chair sitting in the guest room's corner. "Are you on a break?"

Jounouchi shook his head and stayed in the doorway. "Nope, no time, just checking in. I'm sorry there's not more for you to do around here."

"It's fine, don't worry. You and Namu keep me entertained enough."

It wasn't the first time Jou had made that apology, or the first time Ryou had assured him that he shouldn't worry about it. The other had just been following orders and, given that he trusted the person giving those orders, there had been no reason for him to oppose them. Ryou didn't feel he was at fault. It had been awkward to talk to him at first because of his role in his abduction, but that awkwardness had faded quickly as he spent time with the guard. The night before they'd spent quite a while sharing stories about Yugi and Ryou was glad that Yugi and Jou were going to see each other again, despite the circumstances.

"Yeah, that one has kitchen duty right now – dish washing. I think that's his least favourite so don't be surprised if he shows up here soon. You've become his excuse to skip out on work."

"Oh, I doubt he needs me for that. He has you to make excuses for him." Ryou's pleasant voice held just the slightest hint of teasing.

"Hey now, we might be friends but I'm a pretty strict guy!"

"Of course."

"Really, I'm a hard ass! Ask anyone and they'll tell ya that –"

"That you're a great guy and they forget sometimes that you're in any sort of authoritative position because you treat everyone as your equal."

Jou, who had been puffing out his chest rather comically during the spat, deflated at that. He'd heard it before.

"It's a good thing." Ryou smiled warmly and Jou couldn't help but return it. "You're friends with Namu even though he's just a servant, and with me...I'm a captive and I'm clueless about your world, but you don't talk down to me. You don't suck up to me either, even though it might seem that would help with the plan. You're the only thing keeping this plot from smelling completely rotten, Jou. I want to thank you for that."

"Ah, Ry, don't go sayin' things like that." Jounouchi blushed slightly and looked away from the white haired guest. He opened his mouth to continue, but was cut off.

"Yeah Ryou, you're going to get him all flustered."

Namu, who had arrived while Ryou was talking, ducked past Jou into the room. He only narrowly dodged the hand that attempted to give him a noogie. Ryou giggled, finding the blonds' interaction rather endearing.

"Oh, wow, he's actually blushing!" Namu laughed when he saw Jou's face. "Good job, Ryou!"

"Thank you, I do my best." Times like this felt like he was just hanging out with friends and not being held captive by magical beings.

"Yeah, yeah, seriously you guys –" Jou smiled like he was proud of what he was about to say. "- get off my sister."

With that the guard left the two humans alone, returning to his duties.

"Get off his sister?" Ryou blinked, more than a little confused by that statement.

"It's some weird expression they have here, I don't get it either." Namu shrugged and Ryou noticed for the first time that he was holding something behind his back. The blond human seemed to only remember the item himself when he caught on to the questioning look Ryou was sending him. "Oh, yeah, I snagged us a snack from the kitchen."

The mauve eyed boy produced two pastries with jam in their centres and held one out to Ryou. "They're for the banquet tomorrow, but I doubt two will be missed."

Ryou shook his head in what was supposed to be disapproval, but simultaneously smiled and took the treat anyways. "Thank you."

Namu wasted no time in sitting next to Ryou on the bed and starting in on his own pastry. "So, what's new?"

"Oh, not much. Just relaxing in here, since I'm not allowed to leave and all."

"Good times." Namu nodded as if he wasn't aware they were both being sarcastic. In fact, if the situation didn't make it obvious Ryou would have sworn he had no clue.

"What's new outside this room? Everyone's busy because an ambassador of some sort is visiting, right?" Ryou had learnt the basic story from Jou and Namu over the last couple days. He knew the 'cats' were sending an ambassador and that this was a big deal because relations between the foxes and cats had never been good. He was still at a loss to understand exactly why things were so sketchy between the two groups of changelings, and why this ambassador had been sent so suddenly.

"Yep, Bubastis is sending some jerk to talk things out with Yami. As if anything will come of that. You've spoken to 'his majesty', you should know."

Ryou just stared at Namu for a moment. That certainly wasn't something he'd expected the other to say. Namu seemed so fascinated by the 'foxes' when they first met Ryou would have thought he'd be excited to see a 'cat', and he'd never spoken of the fox king with any amount of bitterness before. In fact, by the way his fellow human had grilled him after his meeting with Yami the other day Ryou had almost thought him some sort of fan.

Namu seemed to notice the odd look Ryou was fixing him with and laughed sheepishly. "Sorry, things are stressful around here lately and I guess I was taking that out on the ambassador and the king. I was wrong. And you're just way too easy to talk to."

Plausible as that was, the speed with which Namu was able to get over and explain the resentment he'd expressed only seconds before was suspicious. Not that Ryou had anything to suspect the blond of. Still...No, Ryou shouldn't think like that. He couldn't start thinking everyone around him was up to something. Besides – he liked Namu. He suspected he was a bit of a trouble maker, but he was also pleasantly quirky and, like Jou, had done his best to make this ordeal easier on Ryou. He didn't want to think he was harbouring any dark secrets or ulterior motives. Having nothing to do besides think was just making Ryou paranoid.

"Well, I've got some dishes to wash. It's a pretty tough job, but don't worry – those dishes aren't going to know what hit them." Finishing his pastry, Namu gave Ryou a mock-salute and left. The last couple days he'd been content to hang around and avoid chores so long as he was able, but he almost seemed in a hurry to leave this time.

...No, Ryou wasn't going to let paranoia get to him. He hoped Yugi arrived before he started imagining Jou was up to something to.

* * *

Where was Yugi? Traveling non-stop, Jou and Seto had made it from the human village he was residing in to The Den in almost exactly half a day – they'd taken Ryou around midnight and gotten home around noon. Yami had expected that Yugi might wait a day before setting out because as keen as he'd probably be to come after his friend, he was also the type to plan things out before acting. He would know that, besides the trauma of being kidnapped, Ryou wasn't going to be hurt so he might very well take a day to sort out how to approach the situation. There were probably matters to settle in the human village as well. Yami didn't know what sorts of jobs Yugi or Ryou had or what people they associated with on a day to day basis, but excuses for their absence would likely have to be made to someone or other.

However, even accounting for a day's delay Yugi should have arrived the day before or, at the very latest, the night before. Perhaps Seto had misjudged how important the white haired human was to him and he wasn't coming at all? No, even if his advisor had been mistaken, Yami was sure Yugi would come. He wouldn't let anyone suffer on his account, friend or not, if there was any way he could stop it.

Perhaps something had happened to him along the way? Though he hadn't shared his concern with anyone, not even Kaiba or Jounouchi, the king felt that was a strong possibility. There was one person in particular who -

"He's here."

The worry that had been steadily building up inside the monarch dissipated instantly with those words and Yami turned to face his advisor with a wide smile.

The brunette shook his head at his king's happy expression. "The ambassador from Bubastis. He's early."

Yami's expression turned more serious and he nodded to Seto. He fought of the disappointment that had suddenly gripped him and focused on puzzling out exactly how that was possible. Unlike The Den, which could change its location according to its ruler's whims, Bubastis was fixed in place. It was well hidden by magic, but the foxes had been able to locate it during Yami's father's time on the throne. From where The Den was now Bubastis was two day's travel away, even factoring in that Cats tended to be faster than Foxes. The ambassador would have to have left on the same day they'd received the letter.

That actually made sense, in a way. Though Yami had written a reply and followed Queen Mai's instructions in leaving it alone in the same place the original letter had been found, it was still there. They'd been preparing as if it had been delivered because they'd expected the Cat's would send someone anyways. Whatever magic was supposed to deliver it back to Bubastis had failed, if it had ever existed to begin with. Transporting something to an unknown location was theoretically possible, however complex and improbable. Transporting something from an unknown location was almost definitely impossible. Yami wouldn't put it past Mai to overstate the Cat's magical abilities for intimidation purposes, but from what he knew of her she was a smart enough woman not to do so in a situation where it was so easily proven false.

In any case, it was clear now that Bubastis had sent their ambassador without reading Yami's reply. That would explain why he was a day early. He was lucky Yami had agreed to exchanging ambassadors, since he'd apparently set out without knowing for sure.

"Where is he?"

"He's waiting in the throne room for now."

"Right. Has his room been prepared yet?"

"I'm having it done as we speak."

"Good. I'll meet with him now."

Yami was in no way prepared to enter into negotiations with the ambassador. In truth, the ordeal with Yugi left him little energy to think of anything else. Luckily, there was no reason he had to rush into talks with the Cat. He was probably tired after his journey, and there was the banquet the following day. Yami would have plenty of time to plan out his discussions with Mai's representative, and probably even time to send Seto or another member of his court in to gauge the sorts of things the feline would ask for.

* * *

Marik had arrived at The Den less than an hour ago, and he was already bored. The suspicious, half frightened, looks the villagers and castle staff had given him while he was being escorted in had been fairly entertaining. However, the fun of that had faded when he'd been brought into the throne room to wait. No one had dared poke their heads in to get a look at what was probably the only Cat they'd ever seen.

The visiting diplomat was also eager to see his Malik and was disappointed at not having caught a glimpse of him among the whispering servants he'd passed in the castle halls. He'd thought the other cat would be eager to see him to, if only to make sure he wasn't already dooming their plan somehow. Oh well, he'd see his kitten soon enough. They had plotting to do.

In the mean time Marik made himself comfortable on King Yami's throne, lounging across it as if it were just another chair and he was not on an important diplomatic mission. The feline mused that this was exactly the sort of thing Malik would scold him for, even though he knew part of the boy would love the idea of displaying such arrogance. Come to think of it Isis and her majesty would probably scold him for it to, though they wouldn't secretly share his sense of entertainment. He considered moving, but then he remembered Mai's disapproval couldn't earn him more than a chiding anymore. He was invaluable to the peace process now. No wonder Malik enjoyed working outside Bubastis.

Marik's attention was drawn to the large, wooden, double doors at the opposite end of the throne room. They were being opened from the outside by two fox guards, whose distrust in him was obvious even from just a glance. It seemed the fox soldiers regarded cats much the same way as the ones he commanded in his home city regarded foxes. It wasn't really that surprising, but it was surprisingly amusing. He caught the honey-brown eyes of one of them, a blond, and was fairly positive he wanted to attack him for his seating choice. Marik didn't even try to stop the smirk that spread across his face.

The doors were being opened to accommodate the entry of two figures, one quite short and one quite tall. The shorter man had crimson eyes and was wearing a crown – that made him the king. The taller of the pair, a brunette, was probably an advisor of some kind.

"King Yami I presume? So nice to meet you." Marik made no move to vacate the newly arrived monarch's throne.

"Likewise, though I'm afraid I don't know your name..." Marik drank up the cold irritation in those ruby irises.

"Marik, guard captain of Bubastis, at your service." The ambassador looked away from the king and his tag-alongs at that point, leaning further back in Yami's throne and regarding the ceiling as he continued. "Could I have some water, it's been a long trip."

Marik, maintaining the same position, shifted his eyes back to the group in the doorway. The blond fox looked like he wanted to kill him now, how fun! That was the whole point of this display of insolence; to get a reaction and see how far he could push 'his majesty'. When he hit the line he'd back off – despite what his dear Malik might think, he had no intention of sabotaging the negotiations – but he needed to know how far was too far or, given his personality, he'd cross the line at the worst moment possible. A horrible first impression could be repaired; a slip up at a critical moment might not be fixable.

"You can, but I'd appreciate it if you removed yourself from my throne first." The king's voice was smooth and calm, but his eyes held a definite threat...Looks like Marik had found the line.

"Oh, is that what this is? My queen has a pedestal and cushions." He didn't put much effort into acting like he'd been confused. He could definitely lie well when the need arose, but he doubted anyone would believe him even if he did. The lie wasn't meant to be believed, it was to make Yami think he would scramble backwards whenever that silent threat made itself known.

He stood and walked to the monarch and his advisor – who he noted also didn't look very happy with him – and bowed. "So, about that water?"

The king nodded to the blond guard, who left after shooting Marik another glare. That done with, Yami made his way around his new guest and across the room to reclaim his seat. He gestured for the advisor and ambassador to come sit at the end of a long table nearest the throne and they both did so.

"We weren't expecting you for another day. There's a welcoming banquet being prepared, but I'm afraid it's not ready yet."

"My queen sends her apologies, there was a mix up and we were not sure if you'd even accepted our offer."

"I'm aware – your magic did not work as you thought it would."

In truth, there had never been any enchantment placed on the letter. Mai had dictated it to Malik, who had left it where it would be found. They'd made up an explanation of it being magically delivered in hopes that Yami wouldn't suspect there was a spy in his castle. Malik was supposed to recollect the envelope and read the queen Yami's reply later that night, but security had been heightened and there'd been no way for him to do so without arousing suspicion. He'd been able to report that The Den was preparing to receive an ambassador in three days, but they'd known Marik arriving at the exact time the foxes had specified, when they didn't believe their reply had been delivered, would seem like too much of a coincidence. That's why Marik had been sent early, and also why Mai had been extremely irritable when he'd left. It looked like she'd been making a rather foolish bluff.

"No, we're still working out the kinks."

"I'd prefer you not use The Den in your future experiments." The king looked unimpressed.

"Did you want to get into these sorts of negotiations right away?" Marik let himself grin.

"No, you've had a long trip. You can rest for the night, and perhaps have some informal talks with Kaiba the morning before the banquet. We'll start negotiations in two day's time." Yami nodded towards the brunette, indicating that he was Kaiba. "I understand that my messenger, Anzu, is being treated as a guest in Bubastis now?"

"Yes, she is enjoying Queen Mai's hospitality. Her majesty finds her to be a very pleasant and forgiving individual and would request that she fill the same role in Bubastis as I will here." Marik's voice was nearly monotone as he repeated, word for word, the request Mai had told him to.

"I assume you have a way of reporting to your queen? Tell her that that is not acceptable. Anzu's role as an ambassador will be to extend good faith and talk through the issues facing us, but I wish that any actual decisions be made with Queen Mai through you. It would be confusing to have the same negotiations going on separately, possibly with different outcomes."

"I will tell her." Marik had a feeling Mai would rather things be the other way around, for the monarchs to negotiate through the personable vixen rather than himself. Practically Marik could admit that that was probably a better idea (even if he preferred the actual state of things), but if this way made Yami feel more in control of the process than so be it. It wasn't a point he could imagine Mai fighting over.

The double doors were opened again and through them came three servants, one with a glass, one with a jug of water, and another with a small tray of food. All were placed in front of him, though Marik hardly noticed anything besides that one of them was his Malik. He grinned and the undercover cat gave him a warning look.

"Can I have this one?" Marik asked the king without taking his eyes off of Malik. Every person in the room gave him an odd look at that.

"I'm not sure what you mean." He could practically hear Yami's eyes narrowing.

"I came here without guards or servants in order to seem as unthreatening as possible. In light of that, I would like to ask for a personal servant from your staff for the duration of my stay here. And I would like it to be him." With one last smirk to Malik, Marik turned back to the king. "We have some similar features, it amuses me."

Yami seemed to find this explanation acceptable – though the last part was perhaps a bit strange - and nodded. "I suppose, provided Anzu can expect the same."

"She's can." Marik pulled a small round mirror from a pocket and showed it to the king. "This is my link to her majesty. We'd expected you might want to use it to check the condition of Anzu at some point."

"Yes, I would appreciate that."

The ambassador ate his meal and discussed how the negotiation process would go with the king and his advisor while a mauve-eyed spy fumed in the background.

* * *

**A/N:** Yugi will arrive next chapter ^^;; I'm starting to wonder if I should really have him listed as the second main character. He'll be around a lot more starting very soon!


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Hey Ryou, I can't stay long. The ambassador's here. He's a jerk. He snatched up poor Namu to wait on him, so I doubt he'll have time to stop by again. You never know, jerk-face is staying in this guest hall to so he might get a chance to pop over, but I doubt it. I'll find someone else that can be trusted to look in on you and get you food and stuff but it might be a while. This guy is such a pain in the ass, you have no idea. See ya!"

Jounouchi was in and out in a matter of seconds. He seemed more than a little frustrated and spoke at a pace the 'guest' just barely understood.

Ryou sighed, standing from where he sat on the bed to look out the window again. Watching the fox-like people going about their daily business below provided some distraction, but it was getting mundane far more quickly than the prisoner had thought it would. He was disappointed by the news that Jou had brought since the guard and the other human had really become the only good parts of his imprisonment.

Also, on a slightly different note, he was really hungry. The rather small pastry Namu had brought him had been gone for hours now, and that's all he'd eaten so far that day. It wasn't as if he was starving, it was a bearable hunger, but combined with the loneliness, boredom, and just barely buried feelings of distress...It was the straw that broke the camel's back, in a sense.

Ryou was going to leave his room. There was nothing really stopping him – Jou never locked the door. How else would Namu have been coming and going as he pleased? The white haired boy felt a little guilty since it was probably an act of trust on the guard's part not to lock him in, but on the other hand it wasn't really that grand a gesture. He knew if there were really any chance of him escaping the door would undoubtedly have been locked.

Ryou knew escape was not possible and had no intention of trying it. He wasn't even going to go exploring because he knew there'd be consequences if he got caught. He would just leave for a few moments, and he'd stay in his current hall. He'd just take a quick look around for Namu, that's all. If the other was running errands for the ambassador there was a chance he'd catch him in the corridor. If he could, he'd ask the blond to get him something from the kitchen. He knew Namu was likely very busy, but he was also fairly sure that if the ambassador was as much of a jerk as Jou implied then Namu wouldn't mind keeping him waiting. In fact, he'd probably be glad to. He seemed to be that type.

Nodding to himself, Ryou made his way over to the door and opened it very slightly. No one seemed to be coming, so he took a tentative step into the hall and looked around...His timing couldn't have been better.

If he'd exited a minute earlier he would have been seen by not only Namu, but a man with rather eccentric hair and a long furred cat tail. As it was he'd exited just a bit after they'd passed him and were entering a room a ways down the hall. He caught a glimpse of Namu's face when he opened the door for the ambassador. Ryou tried to wave, but the other didn't seem to see him and looked more than a little annoyed. Ryou doubted he'd be in that room long.

With one last check to make sure no one else was about to turn on to the guest wing, Ryou carefully made his way down to the door Namu and the cat had entered. He got there just in time to hear a 'What the hell was that about?' from within.

* * *

"What the hell was that about?" Malik hissed, slamming the door to the ambassador's room after entering. Said ambassador simply shrugged, looking far too amused for the spy's liking.

"What the hell was what about, kitten?"

"Don't you 'kitten' me, and you know exactly what I'm talking about!" Malik fumed as he released his human disguise. His tail twitched in frustration as he began pacing the rather luxuriously decorated room. "We don't have time for you to make a game out of this 'personal servant' thing! You should have picked someone closer to the king, someone who you might get some good information out of. Instead you wasted the opportunity in favour of pissing me off!"

Marik made a sound somewhere between a chuckle and a purr. "As lovely as you are in your anger, rest assured that was not my goal. We're partners in this, aren't we? This arrangement gives us opportunities to confer that we would not otherwise have."

Malik had to pause – both in his ranting and his pacing - at that. Technically, the other cat had a point. They needed an excuse to be seen together or they'd never have a chance to compare notes, except for through their mirrors which was not always convenient. The set up Marik had created was definitely positive in that respect. It was probably a better idea than Malik had originally given it credit for.

That didn't mean he had to like it. Strategy or not, he knew Marik would use every chance he got to get under his skin and this would afford him plenty of chances for that.

"Uhg, why couldn't the queen have sent my sister? She'd be a way better negotiator than you." Malik crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. He then shook his head and decided to get on to business, all the complaining out of his system for the time being. "Yami will probably send in one of his advisors to read how you're going to be in the negotiations before they start."

"Right, he said I was to spend time with Kaiba tomorrow." Marik nodded and took a step closer. "What do we know about him?"

"He's a very serious, no-nonsense, sort of guy with an ego bigger than this castle. Very prideful. His father was an advisor to Yami's father and is now deceased. He has a little brother, Mokuba, who you might see running around the castle. From what I gather the kid is one of his main weaknesses, but it's not one we could really exploit effectively. The other is his lover, the guard Jounouchi – the blond one who looked like he wanted to kill you earlier. I don't think we can use him either, besides maybe to get a handle on what Kaiba is thinking afterwards. Kaiba's hard to read, but Jou has fairly loose lips and considers me a friend."

"You use a nickname for the guard, should I be worried?" Marik interrupted, eyes narrowed slightly. Malik just rolled his eyes and continued, focusing more on how to best approach the meeting with Seto.

"I think your best bet is to play things like you did today...except toned down. A lot. They won't be planning out a compromise, they'll be planning out how to get us to agree to all their terms and leave us with nothing. So, its better we don't give them a chance to plan. Don't let them know what we want. I'll find out what the foxes will ask for through Jou, so don't worry about determining that. It's best if Seto goes back to Yami with nothing to report other than a personal dislike for you."

"A dislike I in no way blame him for, by the way. You really do need to tone down the arrogance. It's fine if they don't like you, but they still have to be on board for negotiating..." Malik trailed off, wondering at what point while he was talking Marik had gotten so close. "You're in my bubble. Get out."

"Fine...In just a minute." Marik mock-pouted and placed his hands against the wall on either side of the other felines head. "You've been gone months, kitten. Didn't you miss me at all?"

"Worlds of no."

The kiss that followed was in no way unexpected – it had probably happened at least a dozen times before. There were many times back in Bubastis where the two of them would be working together on some project or other and Marik would find an opportunity to trap Malik against a wall and move his lips over the slightly smaller cat's. The first time Marik had seemed uncharacteristically hesitant, and Malik had been too shocked to do much. The second time Marik had gotten a nasty scratch across his face, and the third time he'd gotten his tongue bitten. After that Malik had just accepted it as something he was going to have to live with, since pain didn't seem to deter his suitor. He'd even started participating since Marik really wasn't a bad kisser. It didn't _mean_ anything and it saved him listening to the other's horrible attempts at seducing him. Besides, Marik never tried to do anything else.

Or never had before. He'd certainly never pressed their bodies together this way before and, while he'd made tacky attempts to cop a feel, his hands had never wandered in quite the way they were now. Even the usually routine kiss seemed more determined, more...Something. Malik couldn't place what it was. Malik didn't really want to think. He just wanted –

"Minute's up I suppose...shame." Marik purred as he pulled away and went to sit on the edge of his bed. "So, the plan is just to give Kaiba nothing to work with yet. One of us should probably run that by Mai. You can probably sell it better, so...Malik?"

Malik heard what Marik was saying, but it was a moment before he could process the words. "Wha...?"

A deep chuckle. "I said –"

"I heard you!" Malik snapped and shook his head, face flushed with anger and embarrassment. Among other things. "I'll tell her, jackass."

"Right. You run along and do that then." Malik hated that smirk, absolutely hated it. "Unless you have some other reason to be here?"

He left the room in a huff, slamming the door once more.

* * *

Ryou wished he hadn't left his room.

When Namu had first begun talking he had been a little taken aback that the other human would dare speak to a visiting diplomat in such a way. That changed to become a much larger feeling of shock as the conversation continued.

Namu was working with the cats. He was a spy. Was 'Namu' even his real name? Was he even human? Ryou didn't listen in long enough to find out. He started feeling a bit nauseous around the time the other started talking about how he didn't think Kaiba's little brother could be used in this situation, as if he would have no objection to exploiting their bond in a different situation. When Namu had brought up how he was using Jou, particularly when he highlighted that the guard thought him a friend...Ryou just couldn't listen anymore.

He'd walked back to his room in a rather listless manner and probably wouldn't have heard anyone approaching who might have caught him. He was lucky no one had. When he'd gotten back to his room he'd laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling for a while, before the more logical part of his brain had started nagging him to start sorting things out. What were his feelings regarding the situation and what was he going to do about it.

He did not feel betrayed. He had thought he and Namu were becoming friends and he was hurt to learn that was not the case, but he hadn't known the other long enough to feel betrayed. Jou had though, and Ryou felt angry on behalf of the guard for how the spy had been abusing his trust. Part of Ryou wanted to tell the blond fox the next time he saw him, to foil the cats' plot and see Namu punished.

Then again, however emotional he was at the moment, he also knew better than to judge someone based on part of a conversation he'd overheard. He'd really liked Namu before and there was no saying for sure that everything he'd been to Ryou for the last few days – to Jou for the last few months – was a lie. It seemed that way, but Ryou couldn't know for sure.

There was also politics to consider. Ryou still didn't fully understand why relations between the foxes and cats were so bad, but he did know that he didn't want to be the one who stopped them from improving. Underhanded as he found Namu's infiltration of The Den, he hadn't really heard anything to suggest the cats weren't sincere about ensuring the stability of peace between the two groups. If Ryou told on Namu then any hope for building trust between the two types of changelings was gone and it was highly unlikely that the negotiations would happen at all.

Jounouchi deserved to know who he was dealing with though. So did Kaiba and Yami, Ryou would say that even if he'd never met one and didn't particularly like the other. The truth was the truth.

Ryou didn't know what to do.

It was in the midst of a great deal of excitement that Yugi returned to The Den. People were hustling around everywhere and there was clearly a major event being prepared. He sincerely hoped it wasn't some sort of welcome home celebration for him as that would be more than a little humiliating.

Yami wouldn't do that though. For all his faults as a ruler, he had been a good friend to Yugi most of the time. As angry as the fox king could make him sometimes, Yugi had never hated him or believed Yami would intentionally hurt him.

Of course, he'd never thought Yami would kidnap a friend of his in order to force him to come home and relive one of the hardest and most painful things he'd ever done.

Yugi had taken a day to make excuses for the absence of Ryou and himself to their other friends and associations. Ryou was a teacher at the town's schoolhouse – the only teacher. The village they lived in was small enough that there was only one class comprising students of various ages. When they reached their teen years most either dropped out to work on the farms or transferred to a school in a larger town, so Ryou's students were mostly young children. They'd be happy for the vacation, Yugi supposed.

Though he also did odd jobs from time to time, Yugi had become Ryou's unofficial assistant. It was hard to handle 20 children alone. 20 children from 12 families. Yugi had had to visit 12 sets of parents and inform them that their children would have no class for a while because Ryou and he had 'urgent business in the city'. He'd been yelled at more than once. It was too short notice for many parents to make arrangements for their children to be looked after and there was simply too much work to be done. Feeling sympathy for the parents, Yugi had taken some extra time to set up a day-care of sorts for the younger ones – there was an old couple next door to Ryou and himself who were happy to watch them. The arrangement –informing everyone involved and getting them to agree - had taken a lot of running around on his part and he was probably later than Yami had expected him.

Yugi didn't think he would be apologizing for tardiness.

When he was first let in the gate one of the guards there had taken off running towards the castle, no doubt to inform the court of his arrival. That's why Yugi wasn't surprised to see Jounouchi waiting for him at the castle door.

What he was surprised about was the wide grin the blond fox wore and the bear hug he'd been enveloped in when he'd gotten close enough.

"Jeez Yug, ya had us worried sick!"

Yugi had known Jou and his other friends would be worried at first, but he thought two years would be long enough for that to melt away into resentment. He'd thought Jou would be angry with him for leaving.

"You...you're not mad?"

"Well, yeah, sometimes. I know you must've had your reasons though, Yug, and...It's just so great to see ya again!"

"Jou, are you crying?"

"No!"

"Right..." Yugi trailed off before smiling up at his friend, who was trying to blink away the tears of happiness that were threatening to fall. "I missed you Jou. I hope you've never thought –"

"I never thought you didn't care. Even when I'd be mad sometimes, I always knew you didn't want to hurt us." Jounouchi sniffled once, then flashed a toothy smile. "Always."

"I'm glad." Yugi, more than a little touched by that, hugged the guard tightly. When he pulled away he had a troubled look on his face. "It's wonderful to see you again, Jou, but there are things..."

"Right. Ryou is totally fine, ok? I've been checking in on him as much as possible and he seems calm enough about the whole thing. I'm sure he'd rather it not be happening and he was pretty shaken up at first, but he managed to pull himself together."

"Ryou has a strong heart." Yugi nodded. "Will I be allowed to see him now or does _his majesty_ request my presence immediately?"

"I'm sure he has his reasons for this the same as you had yours for leaving." Yugi regretted the resentment that had crept into his voice when he mentioned Yami, though only because he remembered Jou was friends with both of them. "I think he wanted to give you time to relax and check on Ryou first, but now that the ambassador's here and everything's so busy it's better you see him before negotiations or the banquet or anything."

"Ambassador?" Yugi blinked his large purple eyes, confused.

"Yeah, some cat with an attitude problem. We sent Anzu to Bubastis a while ago and they just sent this guy to us now."

"Was it Yami's idea to send Anzu?" Since when did the king put effort into communicating with the cats?

"Nope, hers. He didn't fight it as much as you'd think though, and she was originally just a messenger. Yami agreed to exchange ambassadors all on his own...He's really trying, Yug."

"That's new." Yugi blinked a couple more times. "I mean, it's great! It's more than I ever expected from him."

"See? He's not so bad."

"Don't push it."

* * *

**A/N:** There! Enter Yugi. There will be a lot of explaining next chapter, and maybe a bit of Bakura. Maybe. If not then he'd definitely be around the chapter after next. Like Yugi, once he's around he'll STAY around, but it's just not time for him to enter yet. Soon it will be. *holds out little finger* Pinky promise!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay! My excuses are rather pathetic. See, a couple weeks ago 'Supernatural' ended for the summer and the withdrawal made it impossible to think of other fandoms. So pathetic...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-gi-oh. Be glad for that.

**Chapter 7**

Malik wasn't in the best of moods.

Aside from the nightmare that was working with Marik, the report he'd given to his sister and the queen hadn't gone as smoothly as he would have liked. Mai kept teasing him that his face was flushed, which he'd denied only to find true after letting the mirror return to normalcy for a moment. Then Isis had started a rather motherly spiel about how she wasn't going to scold him about who he chose to be with, but sincerely hoped he'd be careful in navigating his relationship with Marik. She'd said she believed him when he insisted that relationship did not exist, but it was fairly obvious she didn't. Mai either. At least they'd agreed to the plan, though they'd told him to make sure Marik didn't go overboard and irreparably insult Yami's advisor. As if Malik could really stop him.

Having had enough headaches for the day, Malik decided to take a break. 'Namu' would be expected to either return to the ambassador to see if he needed anything, or help with banquet preparation. Malik wasn't inclined to do either at the moment. Instead, he was off for a visit with the king's captive. He probably wouldn't see much of Ryou again so he wanted to make time to say goodbye. He'd only known him a few days, but he found himself quite fond of the human.

He slipped inside the guest room Ryou was being kept in quietly, just in case the white haired human had fallen asleep; there wasn't much else for him to do. Malik was disappointed to find his caution well-placed, Ryou seemed to be asleep. The cat considered waking him up, but thought better of it and turned to leave. He was about to close the door behind him when he felt a sudden, rather chilly, breeze – Ryou must have left his window open. Not wanting the other to wake up freezing (because Malik could be very thoughtful and considerate when he wanted to be – it was part of what made him a good spy – he just didn't usually care enough), he went back in to close the window. He didn't get half way across the room before he noticed something out of the corner of his eye, something green...

"Gah, did I wake you up? Sorry, I'll be out of here in just a second and you can go back to your nap." Malik scrambled to close the window and retreat to the doorway. "Anything you want me to grab for you?"

"No, I'm fine." Ryou sat up, green eyes focused on a spot on the wall opposite him. He seemed to be in a rather glum mood. Then again, he had recently been kidnapped by creatures he hadn't believed existed. Why wouldn't he be in a bad mood? He'd seemed to be coping so much better earlier in the day though...perhaps it was just post-nap sleepiness? Malik studied Ryou's face and could find no trace of drowsiness. He was rather annoyed that the human wouldn't meet his eyes.

A rather confusing thought entered Malik's mind, a thought he could find no justification for. Something – probably the times he had done so himself combined with the paranoia his job required – told him that Ryou had been faking sleep, but he could think of no reason for him to do so.

"So, did you have good dreams?" Malik took a step back into the room and put on a smile.

"I don't really remember." Ryou swung his legs off the bed and folded his hands in his lap.

"Really? Usually when you first wake up is the time it's easiest to remember." He closed the door behind him and walked towards where Ryou sat on the bed.

"Well, I don't. Sorry." Why wouldn't Ryou look at him? And what was he so upset about? Malik could tell by the white haired boy's posture and tone that he was troubled about something. That was understandable, he had a lot to be troubled about.

"Heh, it's ok Ryou. I don't mind if you were dreaming about me." Malik joked as he plopped down next to the human. Reaching out a bronzed hand he turned Ryou's chin so he was looking at him and gave a mock-flirty wink. "Was it hot?"

He wasn't prepared for the anger in those green eyes and was more than a little shocked when his hand was aggressively slapped away.

"Whoa, easy! I'm sorry, ok? I was just trying to ease the tension...You seem upset." The concern in Malik's voice was not entirely false. "You can talk to me, you know."

A rather bitter laugh bubbled out of Ryou's throat, one that didn't suit him at all. It didn't last long, and then the 'guest' averted his eyes once more. "I'm fine, Namu, and I wouldn't want to keep you from your work. Please, just go."

Confused, Malik stood to do as instructed. Then, very suddenly, he stopped being confused. The way the other avoided looking at him, the sudden bitterness, the way he spat his alias and the contempt with which he spoke of 'his work'...Malik's mauve eyes narrowed and he whipped back around to face the still sitting Ryou.

"You know."

"I do."

"How?"

"Does it matter?"

"What will you do?"

No reply. Ryou just glared down at the hands folded in his lap.

Malik took the moment to analyze his situation. On one hand, if someone had to find out about his deception at least it wasn't a fox. Ryou wasn't really invested in the situation and judging by what he'd said of his meeting with the monarch he was no fan of Yami's. What motivation did he have to help his kidnappers? On the other hand, however, Ryou was clearly very bothered by what Malik had done. Why was that? He'd grilled him for information a bit, but not all that much. It wasn't Ryou who he was spying on and the human had no real connection to the people he was.

"Listen, it's a complicated situation, ok? I –"

"I'm aware that this is bigger than personal betrayal. I'm aware that your falsities don't make the entire process of negotiation false. I'm aware of what could happen to that process if you are revealed. I'll consider it. Now, please go. I can't look at you."

What else was there for Malik to do? He couldn't attack the human without risking exposure and it seemed trying to make any kind of case to Ryou at the moment would only deepen the human's resentment. The spy turned and headed for the exit.

"Jou's friends with a lie, I'm sure he's not the only one. He'll be so hurt if he finds out..."

Malik ignored Ryou's whisper as he closed the door.

* * *

Yugi had thought he knew how to deal with Yami.

Jou and his other friends had been something of an unknown. Yugi had been afraid of how he was going to face them again after having run away, he'd been afraid of what they might think of him now. Navigating the visit, collecting Ryou, and leaving again without hurting them further had been a task he barely knew how to begin. He wasn't sure if the last part was even possible.

Dealing with the monarch wasn't supposed to be half as complicated. Yami had butted into his life uninvited and presumed to have some say in where and how he lived it, taking a dear friend of his hostage in the process of convincing Yugi he was right. All the runaway fox had to do was act how he felt – angry and fed up. It should have been easy to look scornfully on the king and demand Ryou's freedom.

Yugi hadn't accounted for the way Yami's ruby eyes lit up when they caught his for the first time in two years, nor for the fragile smile gracing his usually proud face. The childlike eagerness in his steps as he rose from his throne and approached was entirely unexpected. The soft, regretful, tone to his voice when he spoke his name and told him he'd missed him had caught Yugi completely off guard.

He caught himself before he uttered those same words in response.

"Why?" He asked instead, voice far quieter than he'd intended.

Yami's expression became confused. He looked as if he were about to say something and Yugi knew by the way the corners of his mouth curled up that it wasn't on topic. Yami was just pleased that he'd gotten him here, he wasn't even thinking about how.

"Not 'why did you miss me', why are you doing this?" Yugi cut in before Yami could start trying to flatter him. He managed a normal speaking volume this time.

"You don't belong among the humans, Yugi." The king sighed as if explaining himself was quite the annoyance. "I gave you two years to figure that out for yourself."

"Is that really all?" The runaway's purple eyes darkened.

"Of course. What else would it be?" Yami met Yugi's cold look with one of his own.

"I don't know. For a second there I was entertaining the notion that you might have a better reason for disrupting the lives of Ryou and myself than your own opinion about where I belong. My mistake, obviously."

"Listen, Yugi, I –" It seemed like Yami was getting ready to backtrack and say exactly what he'd already said in far prettier words that would make it sound as if it were all right and good. Yugi would have none of that.

"I want to see Ryou."

"Not yet. I –"

"I'll get Jou to show me then." Yugi turned to leave, but a hand latched on to his shoulder.

"Would you just listen for a moment?" Yami didn't seem to realize how harsh his grip was until Yugi turned back to him, large eyes hurt. He let go.

"No, because I know what you're going to say. You're going to twist this around somehow, make it sound logical. Kind, even. But it doesn't matter how you dress it up, Yami. It's ugly. It's...It's something I'd thought was beneath you." Yugi's voice cracked and he looked away, embarrassed at the display of weakness. "You've made a lot of choices I haven't agreed with, but I never thought you'd try to control me like this. It's been two years, I thought maybe you even respected that it was my choice to leave."

"I did." Yami's voice lost any authoritativeness it had previously had.

"You wouldn't be putting me through this if you did." Yugi whipped away the tears before they could even think about falling.

"I wasn't going to, I was going to let you live your life away from here. I thought it was ridiculous that you wanted to, yes, and I've thought about dragging you back a million times. Do you have any idea what that felt like, having you leave right after I –" Yami stopped himself that time and paused before continuing, probably to rid his voice of the rant-like quality it was gaining. "But I didn't. This is where you belong, but I know it's not my right to enforce that."

"Then why, Yami?" Yugi desperately wanted to believe that there was a good reason for everything that was happening and the king's words allowed him a small amount of hope.

"It's for your own good."

"No, Yami, you don't get to play the mysterious ruler right now. Not with me." Yugi felt the spark of hope fading. They were silent for what felt like an eternity to Yugi and after a while he sighed, disappointed, and turned again to leave.

"That village isn't safe anymore, he found you."

"Who?" Yugi turned back to Yami once more, puzzled.

"The Wolf."

"Start at the beginning."

* * *

Yami hadn't wanted to tell anyone about his recent encounter with the wolf, not even Yugi. He really felt the initial reason he'd given was enough on its own. However, it had been made apparent that unless he was given a good reason not to Yugi was going to take his human friend and leave as soon as possible. And then he'd be in danger.

Yami would never let anything hurt Yugi. Not ever.

Shaking his head at having been cornered into the admission, Yami went to sit at the long dining table the throne room contained. He gestured for Yugi to do the same and was relieved when he did.

"Bakura was here. The day before I sent Jou and Kaiba to where you've been staying I entered my study and he was just standing there in the middle of the room, looking like he was getting ready to vandalize my furniture with his knife."

"How did he get in?" Yugi looked worried and Yami couldn't help but hope that it was for him and not just The Den in general.

"You know there's no hiding this place from him. The wolves never had magic of their own, but they could always smell it. The enchantments that keep us safe from the cats and hidden from the humans make us a beacon to Bakura."

"Yes, I know, but how did he get inside the castle itself?"

"Our defences are lacking, apparently, and he always was a sneaky one." Yami felt his mouth twist into a sort of sneer as he spoke of the wolf Bakura, an enemy of his for as long as he'd been king. "Anyways he didn't attack me, although I'm sure it was tempting for him. He said he knew he wouldn't get away with it in the castle, and he was right. He also said he'd found a way to hurt me without having to make a scene in enemy territory. He said he'd found you."

"But then, why didn't he come after me? If he knew where I was he could have struck any time."

"Because it's not really you he wants, it's me. He said to meet him out in the woods in a week or it would be you that paid."

"That's...not the smartest plot in the world, is it?" Yugi seemed confused and Yami understood why. He'd always thought Bakura and intelligent foe. Perhaps he'd been overestimating him for years, or maybe the wolf had just gotten desperate and sloppy? Both seemed unlikely.

"No, it's not. He gave me ample time to get you out of harm's way and, even if I wasn't able to, there'd be absolutely nothing stopping me from sending guards to ambush him at our meeting time. I believe there is more to it."

"There must be, but there's really no way to find out what is there?"

"No. I used the cat's successful delivery of a letter as an excuse to boost security the other day, all we can do is wait and be ready."

"Right, I understand, but Yami..." The king didn't like the way the other trailed off. "Why didn't you just tell me, and Kaiba and Jou and everyone else for that matter, the truth from the beginning?"

"It would only over-complicate the matter."

"That's probably become and automatic response for you, hasn't it?" Yugi smiled at him in a rather sad manner. "You can't handle everything yourself, Yami. Your pride is going to get you, and probably a lot of other foxes, hurt some day."

There was something wonderfully nostalgic about being scolded by Yugi about his pride. It had been the shorter fox's favourite pass time two short years ago. He knew that, just as he had been then, Yugi was making a serious critique, but...He couldn't help but smile at it. This apparently caused Yugi some variety of disappointment by the look that took over his face.

"Yami, after this thing with Bakura is done, I'll be returning to the human village with Ryou. Please don't let yourself believe otherwise – I don't want to hurt you again." And then he was gone, probably to visit his kidnapped friend.

Yami wasn't really sure why he'd been expecting anything else, or why – despite Yugi's claim of not wanting to hurt him – the other's parting words felt like a rusted blade in his chest.

* * *

**A/N:** Were Yugi and Ryou too OOC this chapter?


End file.
